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Plans are well in hand for a terrific show this year to celebrate our 140th Anniversary. All of our indoor and outdoor sections will again be run, with Literary being reintroduced into the indoor section.

Memberships – Adults and Juniors
Become a member of the show society for a cost of $10 for adults and $5 for juniors and receive show book information earlier than it is released to the public. Contact our Secretary for membership forms (details below).

As usual volunteers are needed to ensure the smooth running of the event, so if you are interested please contact our secretary, Gayle on secretary@portelliotshow.com.au or M: 0419 494 275.

It is such a pleasure to be able to report on “THE BEST PORT ELLIOT SHOW YET”. Saturday and Sunday saw superb weather albeit Saturday started with a very cold Southerly wind, dark grey skies and drizzle, but by 10.30 a.m. the skies started to clear and by 11 a.m. the weather could not have been better for the weekend.

6-7 rings for The Dog Show on Saturday saw some beautiful animals on display and involved in competition and visitors took the opportunity to walk onto the oval and around the rings to see the animals “up close” and speak to competitors about any breeds they may have been interested in.

The Horse Show on Sunday was terrific with the show jumping section this year stealing the show. The talent and power shown by these beautiful animals is amazing. The Hacks and Show Hunters were great to watch with animals groomed to perfection and riders looking equally impressive. Those youngsters in the encourage sections also put on a display they can be proud of, as I’m sure their mums and dads were on the day. It was terrific to see a harness section take to the oval on Saturday albeit as yet only small entries. The side saddle on Sunday was also another popular section for spectators to watch.

The exhibits around the grounds were terrific with a record 900+ indoor entries (excluding photography numbers). The Basham Pavilion (home to most of our indoor exhibits) with the new white paintwork and display cabinets was a pleasure to visit with room for people to move around easily to view all items, the quality of which was of a very high standard. The Michael Scott Pavilion was home to Art and Jnr Art and there were some great works on view. The Woodwork section also located in the Scott building provided a record number of entries with some beautiful pieces of a very high quality being shown. Once again the Photography on show in the Higgins Pavilion was captivating with 500+ beautiful photos on show. There is no doubt that there are some very talented photographers on the Fluerieu Peninsula and I must commend the junior entrants as well, as their work was of a very high standard.

All outdoor exhibits were equally impressive with increased numbers in beef cattle where some very impressive animals were on display. Sheep, and poultry, were also a hit with visitors as were the amazing display of Utes of all types and ages on the oval, with again a large number of entries. The scarecrow section also saw some quality exhibits. The miniature goats, at the show for the first time this year were also very popular.

The variety of goods for sale through the trade stalls on site was extensive be it food or goods, and the continuous entertainment around the grounds over both days was very entertaining.

The Southern Fleurieu Historical Museum which is housed in the Coote Pavilion was visited by many show patrons who enjoyed the displays of historical agricultural/farming equipemnt of the area and the new “Farm Shed” building housed a selection of tractors of truly historical significance, as well as other museum items. If you haven’t been into the museum area as yes, don’t miss it, it really is special with not only agricultural displays but costumes from times gone by and a marvellous dairy display. To be noted is the fact that the SFHM won the 2017 SA Legendairy title this year.

“Legendairy” National Competition
Congratulations to the SFH Museum for being a finalist in the National competition and winning Port Elliot the title of “Legendairy Capital of South Australia”.
The SFH Museum’s plan to build a permanent dairy exhibit won the town the title. Deane Perry (Museum President) told the Stock Journal “For people who come off the farm in retirement it gives them a sense of purpose and a sense their skills can be recognised in an appropriate manner”. We should applaud our members efforts in raising the focus of Port Elliot and its over 120 year connection with the dairy industry. Dairy Australia has visited Port Elliot and the Museum and a National Winner will be announced in due course.

Port Elliot Show is currently ranked 6th largest in SA and as you can imagine, it takes a lot of time and effort to prepare for an agricultural show that last year was attended over the two days by just under 9,000 people. We are looking for volunteers to help in all manner of ways, in a multitude of activities. For example; with our All Breeds Dog Show that is held on Saturday, we are again anticipating approximately seven rings in action throughout the day and need help on the Friday before the show to set up the rings, small marquees, tables and chairs etc. During the dog show itself we need people to assist in the smooth running of the show. More details about this will follow.

After the show on the Saturday afternoon the whole set-up has to be dismantled and the rings prepared for the horses in action held on Sunday. This includes roping off areas, setting up the jumps for our wonderful Show Jumping, the Show Horse events, which like the show jumping are qualification events for the Royal Adelaide, and the Novice Sections. As well we will be looking for many hands to assist on the Sunday with the horses, stewarding, being on the field helping to re-erect jumps if knocked down etc. Again more details will follow. After the horse show finishes on the Sunday afternoon, again dismantling of all equipment takes place with everything being packed away.

Of major importance, albeit sounding very drab, we are looking for people who would be willing to direct traffic on and around the show grounds. Even though we have our gate people in attendance, we have found for example, if a dog/horse float lines up at the incorrect gate to enter the grounds, by the time it reaches the gate itself, because of the amount of traffic in the area, the vehicle cannot reverse out of the line and go to the correct gate. This impacts very negatively on the traffic flow within the show grounds with these vehicles impeding the general flow of traffic and indeed in some instances causing hold-ups that take some time to clear. If we had a couple of people working with the gate people who could direct vehicles to the correct gates while they are lined up prior to them actually reaching the entry gates, the smooth flow of traffic on the grounds would be increased dramatically. This activity happens mainly first thing of a morning.

There are many other ways in which volunteers are needed so if you are interested, please keep an eye on this website as we will be posting more specific details about help we require in the next couple of months. If you are already interested please don’t hesitate to contact me.